David Koch: Brothers Plan to Back 'Several' Republicans for 2016

David Koch said Saturday that he and his brother Charles plan to support more than one Republican's presidential campaign this year, but they are not ready to announce who they are backing.

"We are thinking of supporting several Republicans," the billionaire Republican supporter said on The Larry Kudlow Show. Koch said the support will likely come in "the primary season, winter and next spring" and will be determined based on the policies the hopefuls back.

"If we're happy with the policies that these individuals are supporting, we will finance their campaigns," Koch told Kudlow.

The brothers are reportedly planning a massive $900 million strategy to put a Republican in the White House in 2016, including a $125 million budget next year for its flagship Americans for Prosperity, in an effort described as "beyond the biggest, boldest, broadest effort AFP has ever undertaken.

Koch told Kudlow the experience was "wonderful" but since that time, he and his brother have shifted their influence to the Republican ticket, where "we do our best to find outstanding public candidates. We think that we've done a good job in many ways, and we're going to continue to support free market Republicans."

He's often been referred to as a "fiscal conservative and a social liberal," Kudlow pointed out, with Koch agreeing with that assessment.

With social issues, "individuals should conduct themselves in a proper way...and don't force people to do things they don't want to do," said Koch.

This year, Koch said, he'd like to see "a broad range of Republicans" voting for candidates, as long as people of "stature and quality" can be elected.

Koch said he's like to see the economy thrive and the nation's budget balanced, but admitted it will "take many years to do that."

But if the nation continues "to endure these giant deficits, we could go bankrupt and that would be a disaster," Koch told Kudlow.

While the Kochs' names have become synonymous with supporting Republican candidates, Kudlow pointed out that David Koch has also contributed millions of dollars to the arts and to medical research, including at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, where Koch contributed the entire $65 million for a new facade that stretches for four city blocks.

Koch, who said on the show that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer 23 years ago, also recently donated $150 million to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, the largest such gift he's given to the center, Kudlow said.

The project is a $1.3 billion outpatient center at the facility, Koch said Saturday, and his contribution will be paid out over a 10-year period to the facility, where he is "proud of my connection."

He's also made millions in contributions to New York Presbyterian, Johns Hopkins and other hospitals.

"I feel almost like a crusader, doing what I can to improve the cancer research in facilities I support," he told Kudlow. "I will continue supporting cancer research until they carry me out of my office."

He said he also has a "great passion" for scientific subjects, or for project that both "entertain and educate."

"I think New York City would be a cold, unpleasant place if we didn't have these cultural institutions," he told Kudlow. "I think my contributing the funding improves the lives and well being in New York City."

Also on Saturday's show, Koch, whose money comes from the oil industry, told Kudlow that he believes oil prices will continue to stay low.

"There is an extraordinary abundance of oil and gas," he said. "It's remarkable how much is being produced...I think it's going to stay that way for some time."